Six residents of the Khuroson district in the Khatlon province are charged with calls for mass disorders, according to Radio Ozodi.

The Prosecutor-General’s Office has reportedly instituted criminal proceedings.  They are charged with calls for mass protests and disturbance of public order.

They participated in an action of protest on May 17, when dozens of residents of the Khuroson district affected by devastating flooding and mudslides blocked the Bokhtar-Dushanbe highway.

The press center of the Prosecutor-General’s Office neither confirmed nor denied the information and asked to make a written request.

The head of the Khuroson district, Rahmatullo Safarzoda, has confirmed the fact of detention of six residents of the district.  

Meanwhile, citing its source in the Khatlon administration, Radio Ozodi has reported that four residents of the Khuroson district were arrested and two others are on bail.

“All of them are charged with calls for mass protests and disturbance of public order.  Investigators of the Prosecutor-General’s Office are running the case and Mahmadkarim Hasanov, Mahmadrajab Kholov, Husein Huseinov and Karomatullo Huseinov are being held in the pre-trial detention center.  All of them are residents of the village named after Nematology Asadullo,” the source told Radio Ozodi.  

Recall, dozens of residents of the Khuroson district affected by some of the worst flooding and mudslides in years on May 17 blocked a key road connecting Dushanbe and Bokhtar, the capital of the Khuroson district.  The villagers halted traffic along the Bokhtar-Dushanbe highway to protest lack of government aid following floods.  The authorities promised assistance and the protesters got out of the highway.  

Residents of three villages in the Khuroson district were severely impacted by devastating floods and mudslides on May 14-16 with 13 homes fully destroyed and more than 35 home partially damaged.  

Two persons died and several others were injured from the natural disaster.

Meanwhile, residents have been forced to spend nights outside without emergency aid, they said.

The head of the local police is negotiating with the protesters.